No Regrets
by AzureSpider
Summary: Was a bit unsatisfied with the final ending to Arkham Knight, so I did a bit of an alteration, one with a strong BatmanxCatwoman bent. Takes place after most of the game but before the Knightfall Protocol is initiated. Before it is, Batman realizes that he doesn't want any regrets before he hangs up the cape and cowl for good. So, he goes to a certain special someone in his life.


**Author's Note: Well, after over a year of waiting, I finally got (and finished) Arkham Knight, and saying exactly how I felt about it would take way, way, too long, not to mention spoil a hell of a lot for people who haven't played it yet. So, I'll just say that I sort of wish the final ending had been different, So here's my Batman/Catwoman centric take on it. Not for the ill-informed. For everyone else, enjoy!**

No Regrets

It was over.

As Batman stood out there, atop that rooftop in the rain that had been falling almost without pause the entire Halloween night and into the early November morning, he could allow himself one inhalation of breath, at how it was now all, finally over.

Not just with the events of this night, as substantial as they were, but with all of it. The whole crusade. The whole adventure. The Batman himself. It was all coming to an end tonight. This, was to be his last night in the cape and cowl.

He made a mental note of his current state. His body ached and moaned and was sore and bruised all over. He could feel the stinging pain of where his armor had taken gunshots from among others Jason and Gordon. His head throbbed and there was a steadily louder ringing in his head like a bell in a boxing ring. So many hours of relentless, non-stop moving, fighting, adventuring, and performing countless tasks; physical, mental, and emotional. For any ordinary person, this would have been suicide. Even if they'd had all of his skills, all his training, all his knowledge, this one night alone would have killed each and every one of a thousand people who tried to fill his armored boots.

 _I'm not afraid, Crane._

No, he wasn't afraid, not anymore. He'd conquered his fears along with everything else that night had seen fit to throw at him. His will had kept him going beyond all reason, all hope. And still it had been enough.

" _Master Bruce?_ "

"What is it, Alfred?" Batman asked as he raised his gauntlet to see the familiar image of his oldest and dearest friend's face in the holographic display.

" _Master Bruce, are you sure you wish to go through with this? The Knightfall Protocol, I mean? There's no turning back once it's done."_

"I know, Alfred." Batman said, before adding: "...but we crossed that point a long time ago. I've known ever since we quarantined the Joker infected that my time was drawing near. Now it's finally here."

" _But the Joker's gone sir! You overcame his influence! You beat him once and for all!"_

"Too late, Alfred. I beat him too late. My identity's been lost. I can't continue now. It's over."

Alfred sighed, and for a moment the old man looked even older. Batman could see all of the lines on his old friend's face, each one telling a story or two. Batman could also see into his eyes, and could see in them the look of a man who knew that with his charge's life as he knew it about to end, his was going to follow a similar path.

"I'm...sorry, to have to put you through this, Alfred." Batman confessed, the action of apology an unfamiliar one to him, but not entirely so. He'd done it a few times earlier as was.

"No, no, it's quite alright, Master Bruce. I knew the risks when I decided to help you in your efforts. And I had a feeling it wouldn't necessarily end happily...though I must say, I did rather hope it would."

"I'm sorry for that too."

"Do be careful, sir. Go through with the Knightfall Protocol if you must, but I do at least implore you to do so without any regrets. Again, there will be no going back after tonight. If you have any other affairs to put in order as Batman, now is the time to do it."

As Alfred's image dissipated and Batman lowered his gauntlet, he considered what his valet and friend had told him. The words played over and over in his head as he went back to the Batmobile and then got in. He drove off with it through the still mostly abandoned streets of Gotham, as always what thugs were still on said streets running scared at the sight of him. He paid them no heed as he kept going.

Put his affairs in order. What else was there for him to do? He'd already told Nightwing what he wanted to tell him after they destroyed Penguin's last weapons cache together, and had had his good-bye with Gordon as well. But what about the others? Tim and Barbara? Lucius and Selina?

Selina. That last one in particular stood out in his mind. Batman found himself so struck by it that he swerved as he drove before regaining his concentration and then driving off again before he could skid to a halt in time. But even as he drove, the thought of Selina Kyle, better known as Catwoman, stayed in his mind. As did the image of her beautiful face looking at him, a look of sadness, longing, and pity in her green eyes. All of them for him.

 _Call me if you need me_

That had been what she'd said to him, before he'd left her, heartbroken, after dealing with Riddler. And his response: _I won't._

Batman shook his head as he thought this. Had he really been so cold? Did he have to be?

 _Yes._ The more rational part of his mind answered resolutely. _There's no future for us, and we both know it. She can't be a Mrs. Wayne. There was only one Mrs. Wayne._

And yet...

 _Call me if you need me_

Again, her words came into his mind. By now, Batman realized he had been driving about aimlessly, having no real direction in mind. In fact, come to think of it, he didn't even know _why_ he'd chosen to drive in the first place, until he realized he was going to...

 _The Orphanage._

The Cyrus Pinkney Orphanage, long abandoned and dead for as many years as it's late architect. It had been here that the Riddler had taken Catwoman and used her as a hostage to give Batman incentive to play his warped games. And it had been on these grounds that they'd...kissed.

 _Call me if you need me_

He could hear the words in his head more clearly now, like a voice in a tunnel getting louder as the person got closer to the exit. He could remember it distinctly, could remember her voice, her face, her form...how she had kissed him. The feeling of her warm lips on his cold ones. Her lithe body in form-fitting black leather pressed against armor as cold and hard as the emotional shell he had built around himself so many years ago.

And then, he remembered a different thing said to him, by a different person close to his heart, and said only moments ago at that: " _Go through with the Knightfall Protocol if you must, but I do at least implore you to do so without any regrets_."

"No regrets..." Batman repeated aloud. He thought about it. And then he thought about it some more. He just sat there, in his batmobile, which lay motionless in the rain. He thought and thought on what he should do. Inside his mind, the aspects of himself wrestled.

 _"Alfred is right. Don't waste this chance."_ Pathos urged.

 _"No. I can't. I won't."_ Logos deflected, stubborn as ever.

 _"She loves you."_ Pathos pointed out. _"Very much. And you love her too."_

 _"She'll never see me again after tonight. I won't hurt her like that."_

 _"If you push her away and do not reconcile, you will regret it forever"_

 _"I have no choice. I have to make that sacrifice"_

 _"False. There is **always** a choice. Make the right one. No harm will come in telling her the truth. _Then, it added: _you've told enough lies to friends and loved ones this night. It's time to tell the truth to someone who's earned it"_

And back and forth it went, between the logical and rational part of his mind that nearly always dictated his every action, behavior, and aspect of his personality, and the emotional part of his mind that almost never asserted itself except when it was anger at the many, many things that had earned such anger. His righteous fury. It was an emotion he was as intimately familiar with as any lover. Love. That had been the harder of the two for him. Always had been. And the one time it had worked...

"Talia..."

He thought back to the night she died, and then her killer very shortly after. He remembered the shock in her face the moment she was shot, and then how that had crumbled away as life had left her. Had it been earlier in the night, he would imagine what would happen to Selina if he opened his heart to her, but fear would not dare touch his mind again after this night. No, that would not influence his decision. It was down simply to whether or not the admittance of his feelings was worth it. It was, after all, something he almost never did.

 _Make this the exception._ Pathos urged.

 _She doesn't need me._ Logos argued back. _No one in this city needs Batman anymore. They need something more._

 _Not need._ Pathos deflected. _**Want.**_

Batman sighed. He was mentally arguing with himself in a circle, and such lack of progress made him frown in distaste. He gripped the handles of his steering wheel tighter even though he did not drive away and the batmobile remained motionless. Again, her words filled his head:

 _Call me if you need me_

Batman closed his eyes. He breathed in deeply, and felt once more the sting of where Jason had shot him between his armor plates. It reminded him then of all he had been through that night. All of the hurt, all of the pain, all of the trauma, all of the loss, all of the madness. And he realized as he recalled it all that he wanted something else. Something different. Something other than the darkness. He'd had his fill of it, both for this night and all others to come. He was a glutton who'd eaten until he'd finally burst. He was a soldier who'd grown tired of fighting, a fighter who'd grown tired of seeing how much he could take and keep pressing on. He found his cold lips becoming warm as he thought of Selina's. He found his cold shell cracking and breaking as he remembered her body brushed up against his. And then he remembered the last thing he would do that night. The thing that would truly, definitively, end it all.

 _No regrets._

And it was then that Batman drove off, as he did sending out a particular signal that he knew would be received.

-X-

"Mr. Wayne. I'm glad to see you survived the night."

Batman nodded wordlessly as he entered Wayne Tower, and Lucius Fox added: "You've caused quite the news storm tonight, Mr. Wayne. Somehow, I suspect Wayne Enterprises will never be quite the same again. Or you, for that matter."

"I know, Lucius. Don't worry, I'll make sure none of your contributions can be traced back to you. No one will ever know you helped me."

Lucius Fox chuckled. "Now, now, Mr. Wayne. I think we both know that's not going to happen. No, I think I can bid a fond farewell to Wayne Enterprises. Don't worry though, I'll manage...assuming they, don't throw me in jail, that is."

"They won't." Batman said simply, even though he and Lucius both knew there was no certainty of that. But, considering how grateful every last member of the GCPD was for his help at that point, Batman tried to hold out some measure of hope (also not a strong suit of his) that any allies of his would be shown leniency.

"I trust this isn't a social call, Mr. Wayne?"

Batman shook his head. "No, Lucius. I'm meeting someone here. It's a private meeting."

Lucius Fox raised an eyebrow. "Oh? Well then, in that case I'll make sure he, or _she_ , is let in. And then I'll see myself out."

"Before you go..." Batman said, stopping his friend. He raised one gauntlet-covered hand for Lucius Fox to take. "It's been an honor working with you."

Lucius Fox smiled and nodded. "The pleasure's all mine, Mr. Wayne. I only wish we could have kept it going longer."

"Nothing lasts forever." Batman said simply.

"No, nothing does." Lucius agreed with a nod. "...but then, that's why the things that matter most are what they are."

 _Like her love._ Batman thought, but didn't say. As Lucius Fox turned to leave and also give Wayne Tower's approaching visitor access, he turned to Batman and said: "You know...I think some things _do_ last forever after all."

"Like?"

"You, Mr. Wayne. What you've done, who you are to this city...that sort of thing will never die. Not as long as there's at least someone out there to keep it alive."

Batman said nothing, and gave no indication that he believed what his old friend said. Lucius Fox just smiled, and then left. It was only a few moments after that that the doors opened, and a certain young woman in a black leather catsuit with high heels, clawed gloves, and a cat-themed cowl walked in. She placed her hands on her hips and looked at him with a raised eyebrow. "Nice place you have here. And I'm flattered you thought to invite me, really." Her lips formed into a sly, playful smirk. The kind she'd been giving him for years.

"...but I thought you said you wouldn't need me."

"I did say that." Batman admitted, before then adding as he advanced: "...but this isn't about need. This is about something else."

Again, Catwoman raised an eyebrow, and looked at Batman suspiciously. "What then?"

"Selina...you and I aren't going to be seeing each-other again after tonight. You know what's happened, and you know that I can't continue after this. I'm done."

"Finally retiring?" Catwoman asked. Her face and posture betrayed no change in emotion, no sign of feeling to his words, but Batman noticed a very slight break in her voice that gave her feelings away as clearly to him as if her emotions were hovering right above her head in bright colors.

"Not exactly." Batman admitted before adding: "But I won't be here to protect Gotham anymore. Batman's finished, Selina."

"So where do I fit into this then?" Catwoman asked, and now the cracks and breaks in her normally confident and sassy tone were becoming even more pronounced. The look in her eyes too was beginning to change, even though she tried so hard not to show it.

Batman advanced closer, which caused Catwoman to tense up. Batman raised a hand to calm her. "I don't want to have any regrets, Selina. I don't want to end it with anything still hanging over me. Anything that I still haven't resolved. I want to settle what's between us. For good."

"Bastard." Catwoman whispered, and now tears were beginning to form in her eyes, though she did her best to blink them back. Her body was shaking too, and her black gloved hands tightened into fists. As was the case the last time she tried to slap him though, Batman was too quick. He grabbed Catwoman and then, pressed her up against him and smashed his lips into hers.

Catwoman's green eyes widened in shock and surprise, but then her make-up heavy eyelids closed and she returned the kiss in full, running her clawed hands along Batman's armored shoulders and cape. The two kissed passionately for a moment, but then their lips parted.

"I love you." Batman said simply, but not coldly. And to Catwoman's ears it was still enough to make the water in her eyes come out at last. And then what he said next: "And I _want_ you, Selina. More than life."

By now, the tears in Catwoman's eyes were streaming down her face and causing her black make-up to run down her cheeks as well. "Stay with me." She urged. "Please, stay with me. So you can't be Batman anymore, fine. We can leave Gotham. Go someplace else, someplace far, far away where no one will know who we are. No one will care. We can be together, Bruce. We can..."

"No, Selina. I can't run. I have to go through with what comes next. I came here so I could tell you what I wanted... _needed,_ to tell you."

"Don't leave me alone, Bruce." Catwoman pleaded, allowing Batman to hold her in his arms as she rested her head against his armored chest and in particular his bat symbol.

"I thought you liked being alone."

"I wasn't used to loving anybody else before." Catwoman admitted. "Not like this, anyway. Holly's grown up, Bruce. She's moved on with her life. I have no one else. No family, no friends...I don't want to be alone anymore." She smiled as she looked up at him. "Stubborn and thick-headed as you are Bruce, I still...I still enjoy being with you. Even if it has to be when we're dealing with idiots like Eddie...not that I want to go through that again."

"I didn't think so." Batman said, before lifting Catwoman's chin and tilting her head so he could look right into her face. "Selina...it has to be this way."

"Dammit, Bruce." Catwoman said before resting her head against Batman's chest again. Then, she sighed deeply, recomposed herself and said with her usual confidence: "Go then. Do what you need to. But...try and come back to me one day, alright? I really want to see you again."

"I know Selina." Batman said, his tone also returning to it's usual mode, in his case cold and stoic. He turned around, black cape swishing as he did. "Lucius can show you out."

And then, leaping off the balcony of Wayne Tower, Batman disappeared from view. And it was indeed the last time Catwoman ever saw him.

 _1 Year Later_

Catwoman smiled with satisfaction as she stood triumphant over the mess of unconscious thugs littering the ground in front of her. They were a hodge-podge of various individuals of ill-repute, but most of them owing allegiance to either Harley Quinn or Penguin, who had managed to both keep their gangs running and killing each-other even though both of them were serving life sentences.

 _Doesn't matter much to me though._ Catwoman noted, before then using a combination of her claws and trusty bullwhip to reach the nearby buildings and quickly leave her defeated opposition behind in the dust. Tuning the new built-in radio in her cowl, she listened in for other chatter that gave away the positions of different hoodlums and criminals. She got nothing, to her surprise, and so decided to go back home to her apartment and certain... _other_ chief responsibility.

"It is good to be back though." Catwoman noted with satisfaction as she flexed her arms and then admired her glove's claws. She'd had to stop wearing her catsuit for a good long while after she felt her body change. She couldn't exactly keep jumping across rooftops, scaling walls, and putting criminals in the emergency room either. But now that period had come and gone, and Catwoman was back in action.

The wailing of an infant girl drew Catwoman to her crib, and she picked her up and cradled her in her arms. "Ssssh. It's okay, little Helena. Mommy's here. Mommy's here. Just got back from stopping some bad guys." Catwoman then turned to the other person in the room who had been looking after Helena in her absence. "How was she?"

"A real ankle-biter." Holly joked before adding: "I don't know _how_ you could birth such a monster."

"Ha ha." Catwoman replied in a deadpan before setting Helena back into her crib and then removing her cowl. She set it down on a nearby chair and then returned to her daughter, picking her up in her arms again.

"You know, you never did tell me whether or not Batman was the father."

"Isn't it obvious?" Selina asked as she continued to rock Helena back and forth. She then sighed and said: "I still miss him."

"You and a lot of other people." Holly pointed out before adding: "...but I bet some of your old friends are happy."

"They're _not_ my friends." Selina said with a frown. "They never were. Eddie held me prisoner to get Batman to play his games, remember?"

"I remember." Holly said, before choosing to rib her old friend again: "And then the valiant Dark Knight braved the Riddler's challenges and rescued his princess."

Selina allowed herself a chuckle. "Too bad we didn't get to live happily ever after."

"Who knows?" Holly said. "Maybe you'll find someone else one day. I hear that Slam Bradley guy is interested."

"He's cute." Selina admitted, before adding: "...but Batman's a tough act to follow."

"Suit yourself." Holly said, before adding in a more sympathetic tone: "I miss him too. He kept a lot of people safe. Maybe, _probably_ saved my life once or twice. He was a good guy."

"He was the best." Selina agreed with a nod. "Best man I ever knew...not that that's saying much."

And then both women laughed.

 _Two years later_

"Come on, Helena." Selina said, tugging at her now two and a half-year old daughter's small, stubby arm as she continued to walk her along. Soon, they came back to their apartment steps, only for them both to stop short when they saw a man waiting at the front door. He turned to face them, and Selina's heart stopped in her chest.

He looked quite different now, on the account of the somewhat longer and messier hair, the very shabby clothes, and the (hopefully fake) scar, but Selina still recognized him immediately. She could see past the things he used to disguise himself and saw clearly who he really was.

 _To be fair,_ she thought with her usual sense of humor; _...it's hard to find too many 6'2 men with those muscles these days._

"Who's that, mommy?" Helena asked as she looked at first the man and then back at her mother. Selina smiled at her, and then looked at her disguised lover as he walked up to the two of them.

"I...I was told this was where you live." His voice sounded so much different than it had been before. The anger, the coldness, the edge, it was almost all gone now. Gone with the masked man who had owned that voice. He was just a normal man now.

But she was _her_ normal man. Her and Helena's.

"This, Helena..." Selina said with a smile. "...is your father."


End file.
